Expert Answers from Hearing Healthcare Providers

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Technically, I believe all manufacturers use the same microphones but the algorithms that each digital hearing aid uses for processing vary greatly. I think it would be difficult to answer exactly what "directional microphones are best in which hearing aids" because each manufacturer has their own proprietary hardware and software that is responsible for how the directional microphones operate/perform. I believe the individual patient needs are best addressed in a personalized consultation with an audiologist who can review the communication needs... Read more

We have only fit a handful of patients so far. But, so far the feedback (no pun intended) has been great for hearing in noise! We all have different abilities to hear in noise and from my standpoint, this is a key factor in personalizing any solution.

Shari Eberts recently published The Joys Of Noise-Cancelling Headphones With Hearing Loss, where she talks about using her Bose noise-cancelling headphones with her hearing aids. While Shari uses in-the-canal style hearing aids, I believe you can use noise-cancelling headphones with just about any type of hearing aid, so long as the headphones are big enough to fit over your hearing aids. "Circumaural" headphones, like the ones Shari uses, sit over and around the ear, and typically provide enough space for behind-the-ear hearing aids. However, if the... Read more

It depends on perspective. Hearing aids do not truly block background noise, but can limit what the hearing aids amplify. The primary complaint of hearing aid users about their performance is how they function in background noise. What they are really complaining about is not hearing background noise, however, but not hearing what they want to hear (i.e. the speech of a partner) while in the presence of background noise. Without special features to help in this situation, hearing aids tend to amplify everything around them. So, the solution for... Read more

Noise is inherently low frequency. If you have reverse slope loss and your hearing aid is programmed with too much low frequencies, that would interfere with your clarity for speech understanding, especially in noisy situation. I would try to increase the mid frequencies and lower the low frequencies, as you probably would have enough high frequencies already. A discrimination test with the hearing aids in the ears would probably help to determine the effectiveness of the hearing aids after they had been programmed.